Report on Irish internet usage in 2014

The Central Statistics Office has just released a number of statistics with regards to the way the Irish population used the internet in 2014. We took some of the most relevant statistics and we created the following report. We hope the report will be informative enough such that small and medium companies can create strategies that will increase their market share.

Internet usage catalogued by age group

Recent surveys have found that 86% of the Irish population aged between 16 and 29 years old will use the internet on a daily basis and 7% of them will use the internet at least once a week. Also, 77% of Irish people aged between 30 and 44 years old will use the internet on a daily basis while 12% of them will use it at least once a week. In both age groups, the amount of people that use the internet on a daily basis has increased by 7% and 3% respectively, in comparison with 2013. However, statistics show that 54% of people aged between 45 and 59 years old will use the internet daily, this being a reduction of 3% year on year when 57% of people in this age group have used the internet on a daily basis. Also, the amount of people that have not used the internet at all in the past 3 months has increased from 24% to 26% year on year. The same trend is recorded for people aged between 60 and 74 years old. 26% of people aged between 60 and 74 years old have used the internet on a daily basis, this being a decrease of 2% with respect to the previous year. Also, in this age group, the amount of people that have not used the internet at all in the past 3 months has increased from 54% to 57% year on year.

Internet usage in Ireland

The data suggests that internet usage for people aged between 16 and 44 years old is on an upward trend while the internet usage for people aged between 45 and 74 years old in on a slightly downward trend. Nonetheless, the overall internet usage in Ireland is on an upward trend as 65% of population uses internet daily, this being an increase of 4% with respect to the previous year. Statistics released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) also show that 80% of the population has used the internet at least once in the past 3 months and a total of 75% of the population located in the West of Ireland has used the internet at least once in the past 3 months. The percentage of population that have never used the internet is as follows: 16% in the whole of Ireland and 20% in the West of Ireland.

Cloud computing purchase and social media usage

In 2014, 20% of Irish businesses have bought storage of files and 16% of Irish companies have bought email services. In terms of businesses buying cloud computing services, Ireland has ranked above UK and is ranked 5th out of 28 European countries that participated in the survey. Finland ranked the highest with 51% of companies buying cloud computing services. The main reasons for which businesses were not buying cloud services in 2014 was due to insufficient knowledge (30%) and high costs (21%).

35% of internet users stored files (pictures, music, documents, etc.) in the cloud, while 12% of them said that they were paying for the cloud storage service. However, a total of 41% of internet users have used social media to share files. Although Ireland does not rank in the top 3 countries for the purchase of cloud computing by businesses, it ranks 2nd in the use of social media, mainly Facebook, for connecting with customers. In 2014, a total of 61% of Irish businesses have used social media. This is an increase of 13% from just a year earlier when only 48% of businesses have used social media. Twitter and YouTube have also seen an increase in users of 7% and 5% respectively, compared to the previous year. Malta is the country that tops the ranks with a total of 66% of businesses using social media. Within the European Union, the rate of social media use by companies is ranked at 36%, recording an increase of 6% with respect to 2013.

Electronic sales

Almost half of large and medium businesses have conducted e-commerce sales in 2014, while only 23% of small businesses have conducted e-commerce sales. Statistics also show that most of the sales (approximately 80%) conducted by small and medium companies are not conducted through the use of e-commerce platforms. This could indicate that these companies service only the local markets in which they operate and there is a lot of potential to increase their sales by adopting internet technologies and online marketing techniques.

Household statistics

The internet penetration rate within the Irish homes has remained unaffected (82%) with regards to 2013. The main causes for not installing internet in the household was “not needed” (42%) and “lack of skills” (39%).

The most popular activity conducted on the internet was emailing (85%), followed by social media networking (63%) and internet banking (60%). 50% of Irish citizens aged between 16 and 74 years old have purchased something on the internet in a period of 12 months before they were interviewed. The most popular goods or services purchased on the internet were “travel arrangements” (31%), “tickets for events” (30%) and “holiday accommodation” (29%). Although the trend seemed to indicate that people will increasingly use mobile devices to surf the internet, the statistics show that 88% of Irish people have used portable computers (including netbooks and tablets) to access the internet, while only 62% of Irish internet users accessed the web through mobile devices.

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